Sony has launched two variants of the Xperia Z Ultra in Japan today including the non-cellular WiFi version and an LTE version for the local carrier KDDI. The WiFi version of the Xperia Z Ultra was first revealed by documents filed on the FCC"s website recently.
The original Xperia Z Ultra phablet was launched by Sony in June with a massive 6.4" triluminous HD screen which made it edge towards the tablet category rather than a phone. Now, the non-cellular variant launched by Sony indicates that the company might be focussing on pushing the device as a tablet.
The WiFi variant of the Z Ultra known by its product code SGP412 features a Snapdragon 800 MSM8074 SoC processor and 6.4″ HD screen, Adreno 330 GPU, 2 GB RAM, 32 GB internal storage and 8 MP rear cam which are the same specifications as the phone variant without the cellular radios, while the LTE version has all the usual cellular radios in addition to LTE radios compatible with KDDI"s network.
Without the presence of cellular radios, the tablet could be viewed as a competitor to Apple"s iPod Touch. However, the launch price of ¥52,000 ($499) is quite high compared to the iPod as well as most non cellular tablets such as the Nexus 7 (2013) and it would be interesting to see how Sony plans to overcome the challenge.